Giving in to desire with her brother’s best friend…
A secluded island resort is the perfect romantic setting for the night of passionate abandon Allison Randall plans to share with Zane Patterson. Her elder brother’s best friend has always been off-limits…and Zane is determined to keep it that way. But when a storm strands them together, neither can hold back. Everything Allison dreamed of is finally in reach…until unwelcome revelations threaten a rude awakening!
Harlequin Desire: Luxury, scandal, desire—welcome to the lives of the American elite.
One man’s betrayal can destroy generations. Fifteen years ago, a hedge-fund hotshot vanished with billions, leaving the high-powered families of Falling Brook changed forever. Now seven heirs, shaped by his betrayal, must reckon with the sins of the past. Passion may be their only path to redemption. Experience all Seven Sins!
Release Date: Jun 1, 2020
Series: Dynasties: Seven Sins
Book: 2
Heat Level: Sensual
Publisher: Harlequin
Imprint: Desire
Price: $3.99
Forbidden Lust is book 2 in the Dynasties: Seven Sins series, a category romance in the Harlequin Desire line. The story is a forbidden love story between Allison Randall, and her brother’s best friend Zane Patterson. They’ve known each other for years, but only when they are stranded on a tropical island together do they explore their lingering feelings.
I love that a category is like watching a soap opera, you get a short story that fits into one larger world and it’s usually a bit crazy in the best possible way. It’s been years since a read a category romance, but I use to go through them voraciously in the 90’s. This book serves up a brother’s best friend trope with a dash of forced proximity and danger in a most satisfying way.
Allison and Zane end up at a resort owned by Allison’s family for separate reasons. Wouldn’t we all love to have family connections like that? After a day or so of enjoying the sun and sand together, a hurricane rolls in. For some rather convenient reasons they are the only two left on the island, and of course that means all that sexual tension that’s been brewing is going to come to a head.
Like many category reads the pacing of this book is pretty fast, only occurring over about a week. This quick pace worked pretty well for me since the two main characters had known each other for over fifteen years. Though, it did mean that there were a few points where the action felt put into hyper drive. Also, some of the conversation came off a bit stilted. For example, at one point in the story Allison sustains a mild injury and Zane says they “need to get ice on that, stat…”. It just seemed an odd phrasing for a scene that wasn’t happening in an emergency room.
There are three sex scene which were all at about a 2-3 on the heat level scale. The hero was apparently quite the playboy, but when they’re in bed together he seemed pretty tame and it left me a bit wanting. Some more athletic and intense sex is referenced in conversations, but never shown on page. I was expecting a bit more heat from a book named Forbidden Lust.
Aside from those minor issues I enjoyed reading this book. It was like cotton candy for the soul; sweet, fluffy, and exactly the sort of break I wanted after several more angst filled reads. Zane and Allison have good chemistry and the tropical setting was a nice change of pace for me. Overall, I’m giving this 3.5 stars and would recommend it for anyone looking for a quick escapist read.
~ Lindsey
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